The Least Commandment

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beta

Senior Member
Aug 8, 2016
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#22
how does Jesus say "greatest" and "least" ?
As has already been shown...Commandments is plural so it can mean all, especially as not one in particular is mentioned as 'greatest or 'least......and in view of Jas 2v10,11 referring to the 10, NONE are to be broken.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#23
The greatest commands, are just that, the most beneficial, the commands to love god and neighbor, if obeyed, will cause you to obey all the rest of the commands, whatever they may be, ie, it will keep you from sin of any kind

Non of the other commands will do this.
 
Sep 4, 2012
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#24
The 2 are just a summary of the 10 which give more DETAIL of HOW to show LOVE. If we ignore them then we just start to act as WE think is right....not what GOD wants us to do.
Why don't we break up the 6th commandment into 10 commandments for more detail? Like don't murder your father, don't murder your mother, don't murder your brother, etc.?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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#25
As has already been shown...Commandments is plural so it can mean all, especially as not one in particular is mentioned as 'greatest or 'least......and in view of Jas 2v10,11 referring to the 10, NONE are to be broken.
Plurality of least or greatest doesn't make all equal.

Equality of all makes no such thing as either greatest or least, but Jesus says both exist
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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#26
in view of Jas 2v10,11 referring to the 10, NONE are to be broken.
James 2:10 refers to James 2:9 which refers to Leviticus 19:15 "do not show partiality" not to Exodus 20. I've informed you of this like a dozen times but you still ain't learned.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#27
james 2 speaks of the whole law. Not just ten commands. James 2: 9 proves this.
 

beta

Senior Member
Aug 8, 2016
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#28
James 2:10 refers to James 2:9 which refers to Leviticus 19:15 "do not show partiality" not to Exodus 20. I've informed you of this like a dozen times but you still ain't learned.
Just as you like...we are all on different levels of learning ! have a nice day !
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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#29
how does Jesus say "greatest" and "least" ?
Obviously the Ten Commandments are the greatest, and corresponding to that are the Two Greatest Commandments.

But there are dozens of lesser commandments as I have already shown. Here's another example (Exod 22:14,15): And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good. But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

Given the methods of agriculture at the time, let's say you were farming and one of your pair of oxen was somehow disabled. You went to your neighbor and borrowed an ox. But then while you had it in your possession, it got hurt. So then you would need to make restitution with a good healthy ox which would be of equal value. No excuses.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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#30
Obviously the Ten Commandments are the greatest, and corresponding to that are the Two Greatest Commandments.
how can the ten commandments be 'obviously' the greatest when neither the greatest nor the second greatest are one of those ten?

obviously the greatest of the 10 can be no greater than the 3rd greatest. if you have a collection of sprinters and the best of them is no more than the 3rd fastest of all, you can't say '
obviously these are the speediest runners that exist' -- there's at least two others faster than all of them. if you have 10 skyscrapers and it's well known that at least 2 exist that are taller than all ten in your city, you can't say 'these are the tallest buildings there are'

but what is the "
least" ? Jesus mentions that such a thing exists.
everyone ought to know the greatest and next; Jesus explicitly gave us those answers. solved problem. what He means by '
least' is i think a really interesting - if difficult- question.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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#31
I see no replacement theology here. That is the commandments summed up.
if all the commandments hang on 2 commandments which are not part of the 10 commandments the 10 can't be a summary of all of the Law; rather, the 2 greatest sum up all the 10 + all the others.

what you're suggesting is something like this:
we know all integers are odd or even.
now here's 10 more descriptions of different kinds of integers:

{positive, negative, prime, composite, squares, cubes, divisible by 5, triangular, factorial, perfect}
these 10 other descriptions are a summary of the 2 first ones?

when something is already reduced to two categories you don't 'summarize' it by adding 10 additional categories.

((why does this rationale keep getting bandied about??))



-- BUT

this brings up an interesting strategy:
can we find the '
least' commandment(s) by looking for those commandments which do not summarize any others?
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
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#32
All of the law includes the foretelling of Jesus. That is it illustrates what He is.

Priest, propitiation for sin, sacrifice of God, not of man. Of course there is much more.

He fulfills the majority of the laws but there are yet many that will never be completed until His return when He completes the works He began in each one of us.
 

beta

Senior Member
Aug 8, 2016
2,782
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#33
james 2 speaks of the whole law. Not just ten commands. James 2: 9 proves this.
Jas 2v9 is not complete by itself but is in tandem with v 10....or else how would you put meaning to v 10 all by itself. the 2 verses are linked and point to only the 10 which were given by GOD personally to people and are spiritual and eternal.....thus separating them from the commandments of works and ordiinances which were temporary until Jesus fulfilled them on the cross Eph 2v15; Col 2v14;
The 'whole law here referred to are the 10 spiritual HOLY Commandments Rom 7;....the 'works were never holy but carnal Heb 9v10.
GOD puts difference between holy and unholy even if man does not Lev 10v10.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#34
Jas 2v9 is not complete by itself but is in tandem with v 10....or else how would you put meaning to v 10 all by itself. the 2 verses are linked and point to only the 10 which were given by GOD personally to people and are spiritual and eternal.....thus separating them from the commandments of works and ordiinances which were temporary until Jesus fulfilled them on the cross Eph 2v15; Col 2v14;
The 'whole law here referred to are the 10 spiritual HOLY Commandments Rom 7;....the 'works were never holy but carnal Heb 9v10.
GOD puts difference between holy and unholy even if man does not Lev 10v10.
Yes they are linked,

When you see the word command, people always assume it means the ten, There are many many commands given in scripture. Granted some we do not need to follow they were specific to isreal or are not applicable today. But many (like showing partiality) is a command given by God, but not included in the ten, We are binding the law down when we just hold it to ten..
 
W

whatev

Guest
#35
if all the commandments hang on 2 commandments which are not part of the 10 commandments the 10 can't be a summary of all of the Law; rather, the 2 greatest sum up all the 10 + all the others.

what you're suggesting is something like this:
we know all integers are odd or even.
now here's 10 more descriptions of different kinds of integers:

{positive, negative, prime, composite, squares, cubes, divisible by 5, triangular, factorial, perfect}
these 10 other descriptions are a summary of the 2 first ones?

when something is already reduced to two categories you don't 'summarize' it by adding 10 additional categories.

((why does this rationale keep getting bandied about??))



-- BUT

this brings up an interesting strategy:
can we find the '
least' commandment(s) by looking for those commandments which do not summarize any others?
First, integers are whole numbers, (negative, and 0 included), not merely either odd or even numbers, so your analogy didn't work, because the definition wasn't accurate.

Now, try this on for size. (You might still disagree, but at least you understand what I'm saying... maybe.)

What does "love God with all your heart all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength" look like?

It looks like this.
Exodus 20:1
And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.


What does "love your neighbor as yourself" look like?

It looks like this.

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”


What does loving self first look like?

Sin!

What is the least commandment? There isn't one. Either love God completely and love others perfectly, or fall short.

We fell short. We fell short before we even understood we were falling short. So the one thing we should get out of all God has ever taught us about the commandments is I can't do it, Lord! Help me! And, if we are true followers of the Lord, that is not a one time request. That is a constant request, because he is our strength. We are our weakness.

Maybe there is a least. We are the least, not a commandment.

So is there a meeting of the minds now, even if there might still be disagreement? And, if there is disagreement, what are you disagreeing with? I'm not saying I have the only answer. I hope I have Lord's answer. If I'm wrong, tell me where I've gone wrong? I'd rather have the Lord's answer than my answer.
 
W

whatev

Guest
#36
Yes they are linked,

When you see the word command, people always assume it means the ten, There are many many commands given in scripture. Granted some we do not need to follow they were specific to isreal or are not applicable today. But many (like showing partiality) is a command given by God, but not included in the ten, We are binding the law down when we just hold it to ten..
I have a theory on that. I could be wrong, so all I ask is to listen to it, and if you see something wrong with it, let me know.

I think there are two commandments only.
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

But we were born naturally, not supernaturally, so we don't know what either one of those commands look like to follow them. For instance, in my natural state, it is a sure sign that I'm showing you love by giving you dessert. I love dessert, so you must love dessert. And I hate to be stuck eating things just because they're good for me, so out of love, I won't force you to do what you hate too. After all, if I hate it, you must too? So, I give you nothing but dessert because that's my way of showing love to you.

Likewise, I am dimwitted when it comes to what the Lord means about love without him telling me what love is.

So he gave us Ten Commandments to show what love is.

They at least give me the concept that I shouldn't steal or murder.

Okay, I'm still dimwitted. I was backing out of my parking spot and accidentally hit your dog. Well, I didn't murder the dog. And I didn't steal the dog, so am I off the hook for accidentally hitting your dog? Dimwitted as I am, and only knowing those 12 commandments, I could see me thinking I was. You wouldn't though.

You loved your dog. So what should I lovingly give you for killing you dog?

The Lord covered that in yet more commandments. In more commandments, he taught what to do if someone accidentally hurts or kills someone else's animal. All the other commandments are case studies for what the original two, and then ten, commandments say.

Which makes me think there are only two commandments, but the rest are to clarify those two, because the nature we were born with is not the Lord's nature. We're natural. He's supernatural. And he wants to clue us into what he means when he says something.

He even took the time he had on earth to clarify even further. After all, I'm sure you felt adultery was evil even before finding that commandment. But did you ever think looking at a woman and thinking about having adultery with her was just as evil?

And it all comes back to loving God or others, instead of loving ourselves above them.

Does this make sense? (And would you like a chocolate cake with vanilla icing to think it over? I am very much about desserts. :D) And if it doesn't, or you disagree, I will listen to you too.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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#37
how can the ten commandments be 'obviously' the greatest when neither the greatest nor the second greatest are one of those ten?
Good grief. The Two Greatest Commandments are a summation of the Ten Commandments.
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
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#38
All command is hang on 2 command,

Command to sacrifice animal is also base on those 2 command,

But we not do it anymore, is that mean we breaking the law for not make animal sacrifice?

No. Some people believe not observe sabbath law on Saturday is breaking the law, I don't agree, because we are not under ot law anymore.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,098
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#39
First, integers are whole numbers, (negative, and 0 included), not merely either odd or even numbers, so your analogy didn't work, because the definition wasn't accurate.
it wasn't meant to be a definition of integers; it was a set of two congruency partitions of the integers whose union covers all of them :)

similarly love the Lord and love one another isn't a 'definition' of the Law - the duad forms a basis vector ((i'm speaking graduate level linear algebra & algebraic topology here)) for the whole space in the same way odd/even or prime/composite or positive/negative do of the integers, with their corresponding unit elements.
 

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
10,684
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#40
it wasn't meant to be a definition of integers; it was a set of two congruency partitions of the integers whose union covers all of them :)

similarly love the Lord and love one another isn't a 'definition' of the Law - the duad forms a basis vector ((i'm speaking graduate level linear algebra & algebraic topology here)) for the whole space in the same way odd/even or prime/composite or positive/negative do of the integers, with their corresponding unit elements.
whaaaaat?:eek: